(JTA) — A Palestinian teenager was killed in a clash with Israeli troops searching for three abducted Israeli youths in the West Bank, Palestinian sources said.
The Palestinian identified as Mahmoud Jihad Muhammad Dudeen was killed early on Friday in the southern West Bank village of Dura near Hebron from bullet wounds in his chest, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency. The agency said Dudeen was 13, while the Jerusalem Post said he was 15.
Dudeen was killed during riots in the Haninia neighborhood of Dura when Israel Defense Forces troops raided the village at dawn. The army spokesman’s office said troops encountered youths throwing stones and firebombs.
The IDF and the Israeli police launched a massive search in Palestinian areas last week after the suspected abduction of three Israeli youths — Gil-ad Shaar, Naftali Frenkel, and Eyal Yifrach –- who went missing on June 12 in the West Bank.
On Wednesday, a U.S. State Department spokesperson called on Israel and the Palestinians to show “restraint” as the search for the missing youths continues.
“We recognize this is an incredibly sensitive and difficult circumstance on the ground, and we feel all sides should exercise restraint,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.
Also on Friday, five Palestinians were injured and around 30 detained in a separate IDF raid on Bethlehem’s Duheisha refugee camp, Ma’an reported. Another person was wounded in an IDF raid on the Arab American University in Jenin, according to the news agency.
Earlier this week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the three youths had been kidnapped by a terrorist organization. On Friday, he met with the families of the youths.
On Thursday, a senior official for Hamas, Salah Bardawil, said in a statement that Palestinians “are capable of igniting a third Intifada and this is our irrevocable right. It will go off when enough pressure is exerted on the Palestinian people.”
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